Vampire Slayer
by GoddessBlue1
Summary: Xander the Vampire Slayer - A/U
1. Default Chapter

Xander stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. He could hear shuffling, in the bushes beside the path. His eyes narrowed, squinting into the darkness, trying to see what was lurking there. He curled his hands into fists and rocked back slightly on the balls of his feet. Whatever was in there, was about to pounce and he wanted to be ready. Senses alert, every nerve in his body alive, he could taste the night. It danced on the tip of his tongue and swirled through his nostrils. It tasted of fear, of terror, of bloodthirsty monsters that didn't hide under the bed, but lived in plain sight. He grinned, ready for action and spoiling for a fight.  
  
Suddenly the bushes exploded and with an inarticulate roar, something launched itself at him. Xander reacted quickly, sidestepping the creature's lunge and turning to face it.  
  
"You guys have just got to get a new routine," he said shaking his head."The sneaking-up-and-jumping-people thing doesn't work anymore."  
  
The creature snarled, his face in full game mode, and made a swipe towards him. Xander just laughed and moved out of the way.  
  
"Oh come on," he said. "Is that all you got? At least make it interesting for me."  
  
Xander knew this was a fledgling, newly risen, and consequentially was going to be easy pickings. The new ones didn't have the same reflexes as older ones. They were starving, confused about their surroundings, still trying to adjust to the whole vampire thing. Xander sighed. He really was in the mood for something a little more challenging, something that was going to stretch his skills. But he didn't have time to play around with a fledgling. With a regretful sigh for the fun he could be having, he zigged and zagged a few times as the vampire tried to grab him. Pulling a stake from the sheath under his sleeve, he saw his opening and took it. The vampire exploded into a dust cloud as the stake penetrated its black heart.  
  
Xander coughed and waved his hand in front of his face.  
  
"I hate the smell of vamp dust in the evening," he muttered.  
  
He took a moment to replace the stake in the custom made sheath that was strapped to his left forearm, then continued walking along the path that wound through Sunnydale Park. He knew from experience that it was a veritable breeding ground for vamps at night. Patrol had been quiet tonight though, and he wondered how the others were doing. As he walked, he stared up at the sky, watching the stars, keeping an ear out for any movement around him. He wondered what it would be like to live on another planet. Were there even any vampires out there? Vampire organisms perhaps. A planet without vampires. He grinned. What a wonderful place that would be. What would it be to actually have a normal life, he wondered.  
  
Suddenly mmovement up ahead caught his eye. Something was standing underneath a large tree by the path as it turned a corner. Xander sighed. Another vamp thinking it was about to feast on an unwary human. You'd think the vamps would have realized that in a town such as Sunnydale, most humans that walked alone at night, in dark places, weren't just ordinary humans. But that's what he liked most about vampires. The majority of them were dumb. Only thinking ahead enough to get their next meal. Very few of them had the brains to be truly cunning and successful. Xander knew it was a good thing that most vampires were solitary creatures, not liking to band together. If every vampire in town, in the country in fact, banded together as a group and worked together, they would be able to take over. They could rule the humans. There was only so much a Slayer could do, even if the Scoobies did help. The town's contingent of vampires could easily overpower the Slayer if they attacked en masse.  
  
Xander sighed and shook his head again. He was closer to the crouching figure in the shadows now, and he flexed his arms, feeling the stake sheath and thinking about the various other weapons hidden about his body.  
  
The figure moved and he suddenly realized it was two vamps in the shadows, not one. He quickened his step and was stopped in front of them, knees slightly bent, hands away from his side. He was grinning fiercely, already relishing the fight.  
  
"Damn that's ugly," Xander said as the two vamps spread out before him. "Hate to tell you, but I think you guys put your pants on the wrong end this morning."  
  
One of the vamps growled and moved forward. Before it got within two steps however, Xander was on it and staking it. He shook the dust from his hair and turned to the second vamp.  
  
"Slayer," the vamp breathed in shock. He began to back away.  
  
"Ah, I see you've heard of me," Xander smiled grimly. "Prepare to -."  
  
The vampire turned tail and ran.  
  
"Hey wait!" Xander called. "I had a quip and everything!"  
  
Xander grinned. Now this was more like it! A chase and at the end of it, a nice staking. And if he finished up quick, he'd be home in time for the Halloween Marathon on cable.  
  
The Slayer took off after the vampire. 


	2. Vampire Slayer Chapter 2

Xander The Vampire Slayer Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are property of Mutant Enemy et al. You know the drill. I don't own 'em. (But the things I could do to Spike if I did.) I'm just playing with them. (Er..that thing I said about you know who..?? Grrrrrrowl..) Author: GoddessBlue Archive: Gimme a yell so I know where! Note: Would appreciate feedback particularly where characters are concerned. I'm going slow on this so I can get it right - don't want to post quickly simply to have something to post. Stick with me.  
  
As co-owner of the Bronze, Ethan Rayne often felt a tad guilty at leaving so much of the work to his staff. He was a definite 'people person', enjoying the nights behind the bar, watching the young people enjoying themselves, chatting to customers. But there were times when he felt fully justified in taking time off. Like tonight for instance. There was trouble brewing in Sunnydale, and there was really only one person who could deal with it. Well, maybe more than one, if he was to be completely honest. In times past, the Slayer worked alone, with only his Watcher. And perhaps the Council. But this Slayer, he was different.  
  
"Rack 'em up, Watcher Man," said the Slayer, leaning across the bar.  
  
"Perhaps in a few years, my dear Xander," Ethan smiled. "You may be old enough to slay the beasties that go bump in the night, but until those who set down our laws say so, it's the soft stuff for you."  
  
Xander Harris, Vampire Slayer, rolled his eyes.  
  
"Typical," he sighed, sitting on a stool before the bar. "Risk your life every day and every night, and can't even soothe one's brow with the golden liquor."  
  
Ethan grinned and leant forward, his elbows resting on the bar as he watched his young charge. This Slayer was not just different in that he didn't work alone. Going by the voluminous Watcher Dairies that Ethan had read over many years, past Slayers had all felt that 'calling', that feeling of knowing they were doing a sacred duty, that life as one of the few who truly knew that so many tales and myths were real and not just fairy tales to frighten children was something to be taken seriously. Slayers lived and worked alone, studying under their Watcher and following the Council. But not this Slayer. The Council had, for some reason, lost track of certain Potential Slayers just before the last one had been killed. They had not known about Alexander Harris, and it had been a while before he had been found. And when he had, the young boy had been thrown head first into Slaying, without the benefit of training or knowledge. An untrained Slayer. The Council's worst fears had come true. Without the training and education that a young Potential received, anything could happen. And anything did. Ethan had lost track of how many angry phone calls he had received from the Council, concerning his charge's 'attitude'.  
  
*"Slayers do not run around in a gang, Watcher Reyne," blustered Rupert Giles, Head of the Council. "They work alone. They work in secrecy. And the reason they work in secrecy is so we can continue our work. The more people who know about us, the more chance there is of sacred lore getting out into the..public." His voice as he said the last, certainly reflected his opinion of the great unknowing masses. "Xander is different," Ethan said quietly. "You have said yourself, Rupert, that he is possibly one of the strongest Slayers we have had. Xander does his job. He is a young man who did not ask for this. Regardless of his methods, he does what he was called to do. And he does it well." "Yes, well, be that as it may," Giles brushed it aside. "But what of the danger his..friends may find themselves in? A Slayer who has no friends nor family cannot be hurt by evil. A Slayer with any emotion other than hatred for the evil finds himself at a weakness."*  
  
And that was the true problem, Ethan knew. If one of Xander's friends were to be caught and held as hostage, Xander would find himself having to choose between them..or perhaps the rest of the world. The boy's loyalty was never in doubt. His courage, his heart was what truly made him stand out from the hundreds of Slayers who came before him.  
  
"Hey Rain Man," Xander was waving his hand in front of Ethan's face. "Earth to Ethan."  
  
Ethan blinked and stood up.  
  
"Wool gathering," he said, turning to a tray of glasses and starting to polish them. "We need to talk, Xander. There is a -"  
  
"There is a great evil brewing in the land," Xander intoned in a deep voice. "Well duh, Ethan! Hello? Hellmouth? When is there ever not a great evil brewing? So where are the others?"  
  
"I believe they are here," Ethan nodded as he looked past Xander. 


End file.
